NIR spectroscopy is a mature, non-contact, non-destructive analytical characterization tool that has been widely applied to a broad range of materials. The NIR region of the electromagnetic spectrum encompasses radiation with wavelengths of 0.78 to 2.5 μm (12,800 to 4,000 cm−1). NIR spectra result from the overtone and combination bands of fundamental mid-infrared (MIR) bands. Among the many desirable characteristics, NIR is used to rapidly obtain both qualitative and quantitative information about the molecular makeup of a material. Digital imaging, on the other hand, provides a means to obtain optical (i.e., spatial—morphological, topographical, etc.) information about a material. By combining the spatial information obtained from digital imagery and the spectral information obtained from NIR spectroscopy, the chemical makeup of complex material matrices can be mapped out in both two and three spatial dimensions. NIR chemical imaging combines NIR spectroscopy and digital imaging for the molecular-specific analysis of materials. A NIR chemical imaging microscope apparatus employing NIR absorption molecular spectroscopy for materials characterization is disclosed.
State-of-the-Art Instrumentation
NIR microscopes are used to obtain NIR absorption, transmittance or reflectance spectra (e.g., NIR microspectra) from samples ranging in size between 1 and 1000 μm. These instruments are typically equipped with a digital camera to visually locate a region of interest on a sample upon which a NIR light beam from a Fourier transform (FT) spectrometer is focused. Reflective optics are used to direct the transmitted or reflected light from the sample to a NIR detector. The output is a NIR absorption spectrum collected in transmittance or reflectance mode.
NIR chemical imaging can be considered an extension of NIR microspectroscopy. Much of the imaging performed since the development of the first NIR microprobes has involved spatial scanning of samples beneath NIR microscopes in order to construct NIR “maps” of surfaces. In point by point scanning with NIR microscopes, the NIR light beam is focused onto the surface of a sample or apertured to illuminate a small region of a sample and a spectrum from each spatial position is collected. Images are obtained by rastering the sample through the focused or apertured NIR light beam and the spectra recorded are then reconstructed to form an image. Although point scanning produces images based on NIR contrast, long experimental times are common since the duration of the experiment is proportional to the number of image pixels. As a direct result, point scan images are captured at low image definition, which relates directly to the limited utility of the technique as an imaging tool for the routine assessment of material morphology. The spatial resolution of the image is limited by the size of the NIR illumination spot on the sample (no less than 1 μm) and the rastering mechanism, which requires the use of moving mechanical parts that are challenging to operate reproducibly.
NIR imaging cameras have been used in photography for decades. Until recently, however, it has not been easily accessible to those not versed in traditional photographic processes. By using optical filters (e.g., cold filters) that block the visible wavelengths (0.4-0.78 μm), charge-coupled devices (CCDs) used in digital cameras and camcorders can be used to sense NIR light out to around 1100 nm. Other regions of the NIR spectrum can be viewed using devices such as indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs—0.9 μm to 1.7 μm) and indium antimonide (InSb—1.0 μm to 5.0 μm) focal plane array (FPA) detectors. These integrated wavelength NIR imaging approaches allow one to study relative light intensities of objects over broad ranges of the NIR spectrum, but useful chemical information is unattainable without the use of some type of discrete wavelength filtering device.
The use of dielectric interference filters in combination with NIR FPAs is one method in which chemical information can be obtained from a sample. To form NIR chemical images, a NIR light beam is defocused to illuminate a wide field of view and the reflected or transmitted light from the illuminated area is imaged onto a two-dimensional NIR detector. A selection of discrete dielectric interference filters provided in a filter wheel, or a linearly variable or circularly variable format can be positioned in front of a broadband NIR light source, or in front of the NIR FPA itself in order to collect NIR wavelength resolved images. Typically, the use of several fixed bandpass filters is required to access the entire NIR spectrum. The spatial resolution of the NIR image approaches that of the optical microscope, while spectral resolution of several nanometers has been demonstrated. Key limitations of the dielectric filter approach include the need for a multitude of discrete filters to provide appreciable free spectral range, or the reliance on moving mechanical parts in employing continuously tunable dielectric interference filters as a requirement to form wavelength resolved images. While moving mechanical assemblies can be engineered they add cost and complexity to NIR chemical imaging systems. Alternatives to moving mechanical assemblies are generally more cost effective and provide performance advantages.
Acousto-optic tunable filters (AOTFs) have been employed as no-moving-parts imaging spectrometers for NIR imaging. The AOTF is a solid-state device that is capable of functioning from the UV to the mid-IR depending on the choice of the filter's crystal material. Operation of the AOTF is based on the interaction of light with a traveling acoustic sound wave in an anisotropic crystal medium. The incident light is diffracted with a narrow spectral bandpass when an rf signal is applied to the device. By changing the applied rf frequency under computer control the spectral passband can be tuned rapidly with the benefit of non-moving parts.
For use in NIR chemical imaging, AOTFs have distinct limitations. AOTFs have imaging performance that is degraded appreciably from diffraction-limited conditions due to dispersion effects and image shifting effects. Furthermore, AOTFs suffer from temperature instability and exhibit nonlinear properties that complicate their use as imaging spectrometers.
An aim of NIR chemical imaging technology development has been to develop a NIR imaging technique that combines diffraction-limited spatial resolution with high spectral resolution. NIR chemical imaging techniques have only recently achieved a degree of technological maturity that allow the collection of high resolution (spectral and spatial) data with the advent of the liquid crystal (LC) imaging spectrometers. In general, LC devices provide diffraction-limited spatial resolution. The spectral resolution of the LC imaging spectrometer is comparable to that provided by dispersive monochromator and Fourier transform interferometers. In addition, LC technology provides high out of band rejection, broad free spectral range, moderate transmittance, high overall etendue and highly reproducible random access computer controlled tuning.
Under normal NIR imaging operation, LC imaging spectrometers allow NIR chemical images of samples to be recorded at discrete wavelengths (energies). A spectrum is generated corresponding to thousands of spatial locations at the sample surface by tuning the LC imaging spectrometer over a range of wavelengths and collecting NIR images systematically. Contrast is generated in the images based on the relative amounts of NIR absorption, transmittance or reflectance that is generated by the different species located throughout the sample. Since a high quality NIR spectrum is generated for each pixel location, a wide variety of chemometric analysis tools, both univariate and multivariate, can be applied to the NIR image data to extract pertinent information. Correlative multivariate routines are particularly powerful when applied to chemical images collected from samples intentionally seeded with a known standard material. This approach of incorporating calibration standards within an image field of view can be extended to quantitative chemical image analysis. In addition, digital image analysis procedures can also be applied to high image quality NIR chemical images to perform routine particle analysis in both two (2D) and three (3D) spatial dimensions. Volumetric 3D NIR chemical image analysis can be performed very effectively using numerical deconvolution computational strategies.